Collar support for shirts



Dec. 25, 1934.

W. E. SINGLETON E'I'AL COLLAR S UPPORT FOR SHIRTS Filed 1390520, 1932 Patented Dec. 25, .1934

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Los Angeles, Calif.,

Laundry Services, Ltd, Los co poration of California assignors to Peerless Angels, CaliL, 2.

Application December 20, 1932, Serial No. 648,032

Claims.

Our invention relates to a collar support for shirts, particularly adapted to a support which may be employed in the' packing of shirts to prevent crushing and distortion of the collar 5 until ready for, use.

the modern practice of packing or packaging of particularly those'having'collars attached or formed as an integral part of the shirt, it the practice to place a supporting band M within the neck band of the shirt to hold the collar upright and to prevent crushing or distortion of the collar during transportation of the shirt, or while the shirt is packed or stored awaituse. Such devices are usually formed of a :strip of cardboard or similar material slightly shorter :in length than the inner circumference of the collar with which it is to be associated, placed within the neck-band of the collar so that pressure exerted upon the shirt will be taken by the cardboard instead of by the material or the shirt or its collar.

However, when used with shirts having collars attached thereto as an integral part of the shirt, such bands fail to hold the collar in proper shape,

since the band slips with reference to the forward part of the collar, permitting this part of the collar to be crushed.

It is an object of our invention to provide a collar support of the character set forth, in

which the forward part of the collar is adequately supported.

Another object of our invention is to provide a collar support of the character set forth, in which .a band for insertion within the neckband of the collar is provided with a front tab,

which is .inserted between the down-folded part of the collar and the neck-band, and supports the creased -edge of the collar in proper position.

Another object of our invention is to provide a collar support of the character set forth, in

which the supporting table is formed integrally with the neck-band support.

Another object of our invention is to provide 3 a collar support of the character set forth, in which the supporting tab is connected to the neck-band support in such manner that any crushing strain which is placed upon the collar support will tend to lift the tab to counteract the an crushing force. I

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from a study of the following specification read :in connection with the accompanying drawing,

wherein Figure l is a perspective view of a shirt having a collar attached thereto and having our collar support in place therein;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the blank employed in forming our collar support;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the collar support, shown in Figure 2, folded into the position ready for insertion in the shirt; and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the collar support folded into the position assumed by it when in place within the shirt.

Referring to the drawing, we have illustrated in Figure 1 a shirt 1 having a collar 2 attached thereto and forming an integral part thereof. Such collars usually comprise an inner neckband 3 and turned-down section 4 which folds at 5 to form the upper creased edge of the collar. The front portion of the collar includes the extending tabs Sand 7 on opposite sides of the central front opening of the shirt, which is arranged to be closed by means of the button 8.

From a study of Figure 1, it will be apparent that when the shirt is folded for packing, the collar extends upwardly above the level of the remainder of the shirt, and any force tends to crush or lay the collar flat and distort the collar from its normal smooth condition. This is particularly true of that portion of the turned-down section of the collar which is attached to the neck-band at the front part of the shirt, as indicated at 9, this point being usually the point most spaced from the level of the remainder of the shirt and thus subject to more of the crushing distortion than the remainder of the collar. Hence, it is essential that any collar support which may be used should support the collar, particularly at the point 9.

For this purpose, we have illustrated the collar support as comprising a neck-band section 10, to which is-attached a front crease supporting tab. 11 in such manner that the tab 11 is inserted between the outer surface of the neck-band and the inner surface of the down-turned portion 4 of the collar with the supporting edges '22 and 23 of the tab snugly fitting the interior of the crease'fi of the collar.

By referring particularly to Figures 2, 3 and 4, it will be observed that the neck-band section 10 and the tab 11 may be formed integrally with each other, as by stamping or cutting the same from a single blank of suitable material, such as cardboard, the tab being severed along the lines 13, 14, 15 and 16, but being secured to'the neckband section by means of the connecting strip 17. Preferably, the cuts 14 and 15 extend approximately half-way through the width of the tab 11, so that when the tab is folded back, as is indicated in Figures 3 and 4, the upper edge 18 of the neck-band section 10 will be approximately level with the upper edge of the central part 19 of the tab.

Referring, particularly, to Figure 3, it will be observed that the preparation of the blank shown in Figure 2 ready for insertion into place within the shirt includes the folding back of the neckband section 10, so that the outermost points 20 and 21 of the upper edge of the tab extend below the neck-band section 10, thus permitting the points of the tab to be inserted between the neckband and the turned-down section 4 of the collar at the front opening thereof. Thus, the upper edges 22 and 23 of the wings of the tab engage the interior of the crease of the collar at this point and effectively support the same against crushing, and it should be particularly noted that the contour of the upper edges 22 and 23 of the tab is such that adequate support is not only provided for the crease, but particularly support is provided at the points 9 which are most subject to the crushing effect.

After the points 20 and 21 have been inserted in place, the neck-band section may then be folded back into the interior of the neck-band, as is indicated in Figure 4, and when this occurs it will be noted that the normal position of the neck-band section inside the collar produces a lifting strain through the connecting strip 1'7 to pull the tab snugly into place within the interior of the crease 5.

It should also be observed that the strain is applied at the top or contact edges 22 and 23, but at a point considerably below the contact edges, so that the tendency of this strain is to pull the tab 11 into a more closely folded relation relative to the neck-band section 10, as distinguished from a strain tending to straighten out the folded tab and neck-band section into a common plane.

Thus, the support once placed within the collar insures that the front section of the collar will not be crushed, nor will there be a tendency for the crease 5 to be rolled over or spread, as is common with all of the prior collar supports. Instead, our collar support insures the crease being subjected to a continuous lifting strain tending to hold the crease in its original condition.

While we have shown and described the preferred embodiment of the invention, we do not desire it to be limited to any of the details shown or described herein, except as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a collar support for shirts, a neck-band section, a crease supporting tab having a continuous upper edge, and means connecting said tab and said neck-band section between the uppc: v edge of the neck-band section and a point on the tab spaced intermediate the upper and lower edges thereof.

2. In a collar support for shirts, a blank comprising a strip of material forming a neck-band support, a tab formed with a pair of extending wingsthe upper edges thereof forming a single continuous edge engageable with the interior of the crease at the front of a shirt collar, and a strip of material interconnecting said tab and said neck-band support extending from the upper edge of said neck-band support to a. point spaced below said collar engaging edges of said tab.

3. Ina collar support for a shirt having an integral collar, a substantially rectangular elongated strip section adapted to be bent longitudinally into substantially cylindrical shape and dimensioned to conform when so bent to the inner surface of the neck-band of a collar, a creasesupporting tab also adapted to be bent longitudinally into substantially a cylindrical surface to fit between the neck-band portion and the turn-down portion of a collar and having a single continuous upper edge shaped to fit against the crease of a collar, and connecting means for joining said strip section and tab, said means connecting with said strip section at a point on the upper edge thereof and connecting with said tab at a point below the upper edge thereof.

4. In a collar support for a shirt having an integral collar, a substantially rectangular elongated strip section adapted to be bent longitudinally into substantially cylindrical shape and dimensioned to conform when so bent to the inner surface of the neck-band of a collar, a creasesupporting tab also adapted to be bent longitudinally into substantially a cylindrical surface to fit between the neck-band portion and the turndown portion of a collar and having its upper edge shaped to fit against the crease of a collar, and connecting means for joining said strip section and tab, said means connecting to said tab at a point intermediate the upper and lower edges thereof.

5. A blank for forming collar support for shirts, said blank comprising a single sheet of flexible material comprising a strip portion of substantially greater length than width and a second portion of lesser length than said first portion but of approximately the same width, said second portion extending from the upper edge of said first portion, said two portions being partly severed apart by a pair of slits extending longitudinally between said portions and then laterally part Way across said second portion, the laterally extending portions of the slits defining therebetween a narrow connecting strip of material joining the upper edge of said first portion to the second portion at a point intermediate the upper and lower edges of the latter, said second portion having upper edges shaped to conform to the crease of a collar when said portions are bent longitudinally into approximately cylindrical surfaces and said narrow connecting strip being of sufficient length to permit moving said second portion, without turning it, forwardly and downwardly in front of said first portion into a position in which the upper edges of said second portion are substantially juxtaposed to the upper edge of said first portion.

WlLLIAM E. SINGLETON. WILLIAM M. CHACE, JR. 

